Note that Brejevina and
Sarobar are fictitious
places in a fictional country possibly based on Yugoslavia but
not named as such (the actual novel "The Tiger's Wife"
refers to Sarobor - do read it carefully) Most reviewers consider that Sarobor is based on Mostar in Bosnia. Useful
map

Yugoslavia was a federation of republics, set up by
the first post-1945 leader, Josip Broz (Tito). His aim was said
to be to prevent the domination of the whole by any one ethnic
group. However, while he was alive he dominated the whole. In
1945 he wished to include Albania and perhaps also Bulgaria within
the federation.

The pre-1939 state had been ruled mainly by the Serbs under
the former Serb Royal Family whose language is spoken in Croatia,
Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The mainly Catholic
and former Hapsburg Croats and Slovenes resented this domination.
After Tito's death the leaders of the republics found it increasingly
difficult to work together.

Slovenia and Croatia soon elected non-communist governments
and showed signs of wishing to join the European Union. Yugoslavia
ceased to exist during 1991, and has currently been replaced
by several smaller states:

Bosnia-Herzegovina;

Croatia (Hrvatska);

Kosovo (Kosova).

Montenegro (Crna Gora);

Serbia (Srpska);

Slovenia (Slovenija);

The first problem was and is Kosovo (Kosova in Albanian).
Serb nationalists regard Kosovo as the heartland of Serbia because
of early battles against the Turks (although in reality the ancestors
of the Albanians were there before the Serbs arrived). Muslim
Albanians are now a majority in the province. Unfortunately Tito
did not make it a Republic, only an autonomous province of Serbia.
The Serbian government revoked the autonomy. Vojvodina,
the other autonomous province, also lost its autonomy, although
it has a large minority of non-Serbs (in this case Hungarians
and Croats).

What is the attitude of the other powers? Probably the consensus
was that the preservation of some kind of Yugoslav state would
have been the most desirable solution but that looks increasingly
impossible to achieve. Serbs claimed that independent Slovenia
would come under the control of Germany or Austria and Croatia
of Hungary. It seemed likely that Slovenia would at least need
close economic links with its neighbors Austria and Italy in
order to survive. It has now joined the EU. Croatia is due to join the EU in 2013.

Croatia seemed in danger of complete disintegration as its
likely shape after Serbian annexations might not be viable. Vojvodina
would be in danger of control by Hungary (if Hungary itself were
not so weak). These considerations meant that the old Yugoslavia
still looked desirable to outsiders. But as the inhabitants refused
to recreate it the outsiders had to accept the new situation
and devise a policy to deal with it. The European Union and the
UN tried to mediate in the wars but had no success, other than
trying to set up a peace conference between politicians who had
no desire to talk to each other.

The wars were the continuation of struggles which have been
going on since the early 19th century at least. Following the
destruction and partition of Bosnia the most likely next step
would have been a renewed war between Croatia and Serbia and
in Kosovo and Albania. The refugees driven out of their homes
might well have become a perennial problem like the Palestinians,
Armenians, Kurds and others.

EU and NATO action may have prevented these malign possibilities,
especially after the fall of the Milosevic regime in Serbia.